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ITEM: COUNCIL DIRECTION REGARDING THE PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILMEMBER TO FILL THE VACANCY CREATED BY THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILMAN COATES TO THE CIRCUIT COURT
REQUEST: Staff is seeking direction from Council regarding the procedure to be used for the appointment of a councilmember to fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Councilman Coates to the Circuit Court.
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EXPLANATION: Section 5G(4)(b) of Wellington's Charter provides that where a vacancy in the office of a councilmember exists and the remainder of the unexpired term exceeds 2 years and 81 days, the remaining councilmembers shall, within 30 days following the occurrence of such vacancy, by majority vote, appoint a person to fill the vacancy until the next regularly scheduled village election.
The Charter is silent as to the method to be used, but prior Councils have used several methods to fill vacancies.
For example, in 2002, following Dr. Carmine Priore's unsuccessful run for State House, the Council simply reappointed Dr. Priore without any advertising, interviews or other formalities.
In 2003, the Council decided to follow a more formal process that included soliciting applications, the use of a facilitator, a scheduled public forum (other than a regular meeting night) to interview the candidates, followed by a meeting at which the appointments were made and the councilmembers were seated. The public forum occurred over a two-day period, with 5 minute presentations being made by each applicant on the first evening and a question and answer period occurring on the second evening.
In 2009, following then councilmember Bob Margolis' resignation to run for Supervisor of Elections, the Council directed staff to advertise the position with a short window to respond. Each Councilmember was then provided with a ballot containing the names of all applicants and proceeded to rank their top five. The ballots were signed, tabulated and the person...
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